The invention relates to gloves, especially disposable gloves, as are used for example in fueling or in checking a dipstick.
Such disposable gloves are known and consist only of plastic. They are made available for example at filling stations sheet size and dispensed from a roll, in order to enable the customer of the filling station to comfortably carry out simple activities on the vehicle, such as fueling or measuring the oil level. In doing so the paper or the mat is used to clean the hands after fueling or to wipe the dipstick before measuring the oil level.
In the known disposable gloves however it is disadvantageous that they are made of plastic. If accordingly oil or gasoline end up on the glove, it is possible to become dirty when handling the gasoline or benzine. Moreover, in addition to the gloves, the used paper or mat must also be disposed of; this is not desirable.
Proceeding from the above described defects and deficiencies, the object of this invention is to develop these gloves, especially these disposable gloves, simply and in a manner which is economical to manufacture, such that thus dirty activities, for example wiping the dipstick, are also possible without using separate paper.
This object is achieved as claimed in the invention according to the teaching of the invention by a glove, especially by a disposable glove,
with at least two essentially congruent plastic films which at least on the lateral edge areas are joined to one another securely with the formation of an outside and an inside and leaving a glove opening, and
with at least one absorbent outside layer which is applied externally to the outside which can be assigned to the outside surface of the hand and/or to the inside which can be assigned to the inside surface of the hand.
Accordingly, as claimed in the invention a glove is made available which is externally provided on its outside, but preferably only on its inside, with an effectively superabsorbent outside layer of paper or (paper) mat. This paper or mat layer can be kept very thin so that considerable material can be saved; according to the prior art this material is necessary in a paper or mat dispenser.
In one advantageous development of this invention the absorbent outside layer can be statically charged, especially electrostatically charged and/or magnetostatically charged so that the glove is advantageously also suited for wiping dirt, since by using an outside layer material with high static charging capacity the dirt collects especially easily on the outside layer. This takes place especially efficiently when the outside layer has iron shavings in powdered form.
In order to reliably prevent formation of disease-causing germs or the like when this invention is used as a cosmetic glove and/or as a medical glove, the outside layer according to one preferred embodiment of this invention has at least one disinfecting and/or germicidal additive, for example in the form of a disinfectant which can be delivered as an additive to the outside layer. One major advantage in this connection is that these disinfectant and/or germicidal additives can be metered very exactly, and for example ground spices in the (paper) mat material can be imagined.
It is a good idea if the absorbent outside layer, as was mentioned above, has paper or mat and if the plastic film is bondable and/or sealable; preferably the plastic film consists of polyethylene (PE), which material offers the advantage that under certain assumptions it can be permeable to air, but not to liquid; in contrast, polypropylene (PP) can be permeable to liquid when certain conditions prevail, but not to air.
According to one advantageous development of this invention at least one of the plastic. films is microperforated at least in places. In this way a glove which can to a certain extent breathe is made available since the plastic films do not allow any liquid exchange, but very probably air exchange; this has the positive effect that unpleasant sweating of the hand in the glove can be avoided.
The essentially congruent plastic films can preferably be made roughly rectangular in a plan view. The plastic films are easily formed from a plastic web which extends in the lengthwise direction and which is folded in the form of a hose, the fold edge which extends in the lengthwise direction forming the top of the glove in the area of the fingertips of the hand which has been inserted therein and the two edges opposite the fold edge forming the glove opening; the gloves are accordingly transversely next to one another.
According to one especially inventive development of this glove, the two edges which are opposite the fold edge and which form the glove opening can be arranged offset to one another. In this way especially comfortable insertion of the hand into the glove is enabled, since the user of the glove can optionally compensate for the fact that the two plastic films may adhere to one another by his easily grasping the projecting edge and gently pulling the two plastic films apart.
As a result, moreover in the area of the fold edge there need not be a bond seam or seal seam; this simplifies production of the glove. Only on the lateral edge areas are the congruent plastic films feasibly joined to one another by cementing and/or by bonding and/or by sealing. The gloves can however advantageously be turned at a right angle, moreover can be formed in succession from the plastic web.
In one feasible embodiment, instead of a roughly rectangular interior or also an interior which is roughly round or at least rounded for the hand, the glove can have at least in areas at least one bond or seal seam which runs at a distance from the side edge areas and/or from the fold edge, in the form of a fingered glove (with up to six receiving areas for the finger, but also with receiving areas in which two or more fingers can be accommodated next to one another at the same time) or in the form of a mitten; in this way the glove is made to have a better grip and to be easier to handle.
Advantageously the bond or seal seam in a plan view can have a thumb section for holding the thumb on both sides of the finger area. Thus gloves for the left hand and gloves for the right hand need not be produced separately; rather each glove can be worn on the left and right such that the absorbent outside layer is assigned to the inside of the glove.
Furthermore, in one feasible embodiment of this invention it is intended that for the two congruent plastic films there be at least one other congruent plastic film on the side opposite the outside layer, this other plastic film being connected at least to the adjacent plastic film via another bond or seal seam which runs with a distance from the bond or the seal seam in the form of a fingered glove or in the form of a mitten, but essentially parallel thereto.
The latter bond or seal seam should take up a larger area than the former bond or seal seam, by which between two adjacent congruent plastic films at a time a glove is formed, but with a different size. Thus the gloves can be easily used for quite large hands and also for quite small hands without adversely affecting the comfort of use.
There are preferably two or more disposable gloves in the lengthwise direction of the plastic web depending on the arrangement on the plastic web next to one another or in succession, and the individual gloves can be easily separated by at least one linear perforation which runs transversely to the lengthwise direction. Thus the gloves as claimed in the invention can be unrolled in the lengthwise direction and can be dispensed individually by means of a dispenser.
If the glove as claimed in this invention is to be developed especially advantageously, it is recommended that in the area of the glove opening there be at least one locking closure with at least one fixing or closing strip which extends essentially transversely to the insertion direction of the hand. Preferably therefore at least one fixing or closing strip is formed which is located in the area of the so-called xe2x80x9cturnbackxe2x80x9d of the glove and with which the glove opening can be closed after insertion of the hand into the glove.
On the one hand, there is no additional material cost associated with the arrangement of the locking closure in the area of the glove opening, i.e. in the turnback area, because the material which is necessary for the locking closure is made available anyway by the plastic film(s) and on the other hand would only be scrap; on the other hand, by providing the locking closure and the resulting closing function in the area of the glove opening, the hand is reliably prevented from slipping out of the glove since the turnback area which may otherwise tend to uncontrolled flapping and under unfavorable conditions in the extreme case to unwanted incipient tearing, i.e. the area of the glove opening, can be fixed and closed by the locking closure.
In one special embodiment the fixing or closing strip has two ends, preferably one end being provided on one side of the glove opening and the other end being provided on the other side of the glove opening. An especially good closing action with reference to the glove opening is achieved when one end can be turned down onto the other end and when the ends can be detachably secured to one another.
In this connection it is recommended that one end be made as a receiving part which has at least one clear opening area and the other end be made as an-insertion part which is provided for insertion into the opening area and which is matched to the opening area. Feasibly then the insertion part can be turned down onto the receiving part and can be detachably secured to the receiving part by the insertion part being inserted into the receiving part which has the opening area and thus being detachably secured to the receiving part.
The above described locking and fixing principle functions for the area of the glove opening to be closed for example in a preferable manner when the receiving part is located on one side of the glove opening and when the insertion part is located on the other side of the glove opening. In this constellation it is reliably guaranteed that the insertion part can be turned down onto the receiving part and can be detachably secured to the receiving part.
Alternatively or in addition, the fixing or the closing strip can be knotted and/or tied and/or can be detachably secured by means of cement or by means of at least one adhesive spot or by means of at least one adhesive strip or by means of a tape.
According to one especially inventive development of this invention, on the outside there is at least one carrier strip. This carrier strip on the one hand has a stabilizing function, especially when the gloves as claimed in the invention are unrolled in the lengthwise direction and are delivered individually by means of a dispensing device; on the other hand, the carrier strip can also be used as a holder for the glove, especially when there is carrier strip in a material-saving manner instead of the plastic film which forms the outside.
In the latter case the hand of the user is inserted between the carrier strip and the plastic film which forms the inside, i.e. the carrier strip then acts to a certain extent as a holding strip or a holding device which is pulled over the back of the hand. In this connection an especially advantageous function is ensured when there are two carrier strips which are located roughly parallel to one another.
Other embodiments, features and advantages of this invention are described below in the drawings using FIGS. 1 to 5 which illustrate two embodiments of these gloves in sample form.